Two Rubber Shift Boots

The car is way filthy from driving around in the rain all weekend. I couldn’t wash it because Donna needed it to go swimming. Busy after work week, so it may be all the way until Friday before it gets washed. Ordered the 2 rubber shift boots that go on the transmission under the leather boot you see. When I installed the leather a few weeks back I noticed that the top one had a big tear in it. I didn’t place too much emphasis on it until I was lurking over on the Miata.net Forum and discovered that those torn boots would lead to extra heat in the cockpit. It was then that I put 2 and 2 together. The transmission has been radiating heat for a while now, I just thought it always did that. Now I think that after reading the procedure for changing these boots I will have to move up the purchase of the short shifter kit so I don’t have to do the job twice and potentially pay for the bottom boot twice.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/02: 249

Windshield Wipers II

Why is it that when you finally get some new wiper blades, it stops raining? It is Sunday in South Carolina and because of the archaic blue laws you can’t open stores until after 1:30 in the afternoon. So I can’t get any new windshield wipers until we get back home to Aiken and by then the rain had quit. Oh, well, it is supposed to rain on Wednesday, so I’ll get to use them then.

Not Lint Free

More rain dodging on the return trip. We left early and it was raining so we put the top down after filling up with gas. The top was way wet from sitting out overnight, so I tried to dry it as best I could before putting it down. Seeing as I was filling up with gas, I thought that I could try using the window-washing squeegee. I tried it and while it got a lot of the water off, because of the pebble grain on the vinyl it left a lot behind. To get as much of the left over water I used those blue towels they keep right there. While not completely dry, it was good enough for now. When we stopped to put the top up at a later time I noticed that there was lots of light blue fuzz all over the top. I guess those little towels are not lint-free.

Started up, went down, went up, went down, went up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/02: 247

Windshield Wipers

Why is it that you find out you need new windshield wipers just when you need them the most? Coming back from dinner tonight at the River’s End at the Nantahala Outdoor Center it was raining hard and it was dark and the road was twisty and oncoming traffic and the wipers were more smearing the water than wiping it off. White knuckle drive.

When I Win The Lottery

It was spritzing lightly as we started out for our morning drive, so only Rudy had his top down. When we stopped at the Crossroads of Time for a couple of folks to gas up, everyone else put their tops down for the run through the gap. If you have ever owned a convertible, you know that in a light rain as long as you can keep moving you stay dry, we used this principle throughout the day. The tops did go up a couple times during extended stops. With the roads mostly wet it kept our speed down through the gap, which in a way was a good thing, as I got to study the turns instead of just reacting to them. About 3/4 way through the Honda S2000s started passing by in the opposite direction. There was a group of 50 or so from all over the country in town to do what we were doing, drive the gap. When we got to the gravel lot at the end there were still a few of them there. We chatted a bit with a couple. Saw one that I’m going to get when I win the lottery, light blue metallic exterior with a dark blue leather interior….sweet.

Started up, went down, went up, went down, went up, went down, went up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/02/02: 242

Hotel Curtains

Why is it that hotel/motel curtains don’t close all the way? There is always an annoying gap between the left and right sides. To make matters worse there is usually a nighttime security light just outside that paints a bright streak of light across the bed. Donna & I always carry our own Speakman showerhead with us because of the notoriously light mist available from the water-saver showerheads that everyone is using. We should start to carry a couple of those giant spring clips for curtain securing too.

Be Careful

We missed any rain on the drive up, although the clouds looked like we might get a downpour, it never materialized. We put it up when we got to the hotel, as everyone wanted a driving break after the 6-hour trip up. But the break didn’t last long, as the siren’s call of 318 turns just up the road, had us back in our cars in about an hour. We managed to get one complete spirited run through out of both passes. On the north run we came up behind a small car at about 2 miles in that didn’t take the hint to pull over until about 5 miles later. On the way back south we had to chill until halfway through and we passed Sheriff’s car #2. We knew there were 2 Sheriff’s cars in the gap, because they passed by us as we took a break in the big gravel lot at the Tennessee end. One stopped and chatted with us a bit and asked if we were enjoying ourselves and told us to be careful, we were. At dinner that evening I balked at putting the top up, but Donna insisted, so up it went. As usual, Donna was right, as it had started to sprinkle before we were done eating.

Started down, went up, went down, went up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/02/02: 236